Heavy rain forces south-east Qld school closures but falls set to ease

More than a dozen schools remain closed across south-east Queensland after heavy rain caused flash flooding and hundreds of calls for help on Thursday.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts conditions to continue to ease across the south-east, though isolated falls of up to 40 millimetres are possible.

The State Emergency Service responded to 277 call-outs between 6am and 2pm on Thursday and two campers were winched to safety after being cut off by floodwater at Mount Barney.

A man who drove into floodwater at Morayfield was rescued from his sinking car by ABC reporter Will Murray and father of five Daniel Hainey.

On Thursday, 203mm fell in six hours at Caboolture, north of Brisbane, and more than 250mm was recorded over 24 hours at Morayfield and Burpengary.

Bureau of Meteorology community information officer Daniel Hayes said the widespread heavy rain was set to ease throughout Friday morning, with a reprieve for areas that have seen the heaviest falls.

"We are likely to still have fairly widespread shower and thunderstorm activity across most of Queensland throughout Friday and into the weekend, but it will be more isolated with those moderate to heavy falls," he said.

Mr Hayes said lighter falls were likely in the coming days before the return of more widespread heavier shower and thunderstorm activity, initially through western Queensland on Sunday.

The bureau issued multiple initial minor flood warnings on Thursday, including for the Maroochy River, Coochin Creek and Mooloolah River.

Mr Hayes said further rainfall could cause additional catchments to flood and that riverine flooding remained a risk.

Rescue from sinking car

On Thursday, a man who drove his four-wheel drive at speed through water on Buchanan Road at Morayfield was rescued by ABC reporter Will Murray and local Daniel Hainey, who swam into help.

Murray, who was in the area reporting, said it was scary to see how quickly the car started sinking.

"Between driving in and then becoming submerged and starting to sink, it was a matter of 20 to 30 seconds to the point where he couldn't get out," he said.

"To see it first hand was very scary. We were just very, very lucky that the rear door opened and we were able to drag him to safety."

Mr Hainey said he could not open the door due to the pressure of the water and attempted to open the hatch and kick a window.

He said the man who was rescued was thankful and in shock.

"He’s very, very lucky. It wasn’t feeling like it was going to be a good story in the end, to be honest, so he is very, very lucky," Mr Hainey said.

Murray said he had "never seen a better advertisement" for the phrase "if it's flooded, forget it".

"I will be going nowhere near floodwaters in my car, because to see how quickly it unfolded and see how quickly he got into a life or death situation — very, very scary," he said.